How Jameela Jamil Is Slowly But Steadily Changing Beauty Standards
“Is beauty about making sure we have access to glitter eye shadows and highlighters, or is it rooted in making women feel bad about themselves and promising them products that will help?”
Jameela Jamil, Vogue, March 2020 issue
Jameela Jamil is an actress, model and DJ, best known for The Good Place. Most of us who are familiar with her work will also know that she is extremely vocal about beauty standards enforced by the industry, which have consequently affected women all over the world.
Jamil’s key issue with conventional beauty standards lies in the focus given to women’s bodies — the idea that they must be ‘perfect’ in size and ‘flawless’ in appearance; this is especially poignant in contrast to the standards for men, which are far less gruelling. The actress has always been very vocal on social media against products like Flat Tummy Co., which advertise quick weight loss (as well the celebrities who endorse them). She frequently speaks about the dangers of such products — how they are essentially laxatives, full of questionable ingredients that could cause a range of side effects, and all for what? To fit into an impossible standard propagated by an airbrushed industry.
One of the key celebrity targets of Jameela Jamil’s criticism has been the Kardashians, quite a few of whom have endorsed products from Flat Tummy Co. (flat tummy tea, appetite suppressor lollipops, etc.). In response to Jamil’s criticism, Kim Kardashian was very transparent regarding her endorsements:
“If there is work that is really easy that doesn’t take away from our kids, that’s like a huge priority, if someone was faced with the same job opportunities, I think they would maybe consider… You’re going to get backlash for almost everything so as long as you like it or believe in it or it’s worth it financially, whatever your decision may be, as long as you’re okay with that.”
However, Jamil pointed out that while a discerning audience may be able to approach endorsements like these with a more objective eye, there are many young impressionable girls whose understanding of beauty is shaped by their idols, and will therefore immediately subscribe to anything they endorse. The power of celebrity influence in matters such as these is so great among younger girls that everything they say or do will have a guaranteed ripple effect.
For example, when Kylie Jenner got lip fillers, she chose not to address them immediately and would brush off questions about her obviously larger lips claiming she used lip liner, or many layers of lipstick. While Jenner is under no obligation to talk about her body and choices, her silence had a dangerous effect, resulting in her fans (many of them adults) going to horrifying lengths to ‘plump their lips’ without lip fillers, from applying irritants on their lips that triggered an allergic reaction to make them swollen, or using a vacuum device that caused severe bruising.
Jameela Jamil also points out that conventional beauty standards are extremely patriarchal, and women who place so much importance on such standards are (possibly unwillingly) propagating these patriarchal norms, by telling other women that their worth is directly related to their appearance.
Jamil has sometimes faced criticism for her activism, with critics claiming that as a slim woman herself, she is in no place to understand the plight of other body types. To this, she responded by sharing her past journey — she too, had subscribed to toxic beauty standards, as a result of which she developed an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. She would weigh herself every day, consume all the weight loss products and constantly think she was too fat. Only after a road traffic accident that broke her back did she start to appreciate everything her body did for her, and made a decision to treat it with more respect.
Now, the message she is trying to spread is body neutrality, which is a step further than body positivity, in that it takes the focus away from one’s body. Sure, it’s good to be happy about your body, but anytime you think too much about your appearance, you are once again promoting patriarchal norms and defining your own self worth by how you look.
In reality, we are worth so much more — our choices, beliefs and accomplishments should be what define us, not our clothing size or a number on a weighing scale. The only thing to think about when it comes to our bodies should be keeping them healthy.
Jameela Jamil is helping women around the world come to terms with balancing the beauty standards of the entertainment industry with their own confidence and sense of self worth. Aside from spreading awareness, she worked with Instagram and Facebook to curb promotion of diet or weight loss products to minors. Thanks to her efforts, companies that produce such products (as well as any cosmetic procedures) are now banned from advertising to people under eighteen years of age.
She also created a page called i_weigh that promotes body neutrality and healthier ways of evaluating one’s worth. The name of the page both addresses and challenges the standard of self worth. Instead of saying ‘I weigh x kgs’ (i.e. a patriarchal standard of measuring a woman’s value), Jamil says ‘I weigh my accomplishments, relationships, and more’.
At the end of the day, Jamil is all for beauty products helping you express yourself and feel more confident. However, this should not affect you on a deeper level, whether it’s your mental health or self esteem. With her work, Jameela Jamil is slowly but steadily creating a world that’s friendlier to women, helping them define their worth in productive, healthy ways, and protecting young girls from any forces trying to make them feel bad about themselves based on such superficial standards.
After all, we all have better things to do than fixate on our appearance.
Works Cited
Chozick, Amy. “Keeping Up With the Kardashian Cash Flow: Are Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie America’s Savviest CEOs?” The New York Times. March 30th, 2019. Web. <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/style/kardashians-interview.html?emc=edit_nn_20190331&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=6538137220190331&te=1> as seen on May 29th, 2020.
Groth, Leah. “Jameela Jamil Slams Khloe Kardashian (Twice!) For Her Latest Weight Loss Post”. Explore Health. January 9th, 2020. Web. <https://www.health.com/mind-body/jameela-jamil-khloe-kardashian-weight-loss-post > as seen on May 29th, 2020.
Noor, Poppy. “What Is Body Neutrality, The New Trend Loved By Beautiful Celebs?” The Guardian. November 1st, 2019. Web. < https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/oct/31/body-neutrality-taylor-swift-jameela-jamil-latest-trend> as seen on May 29th, 2020.
Petter, Olivia. “Jameela Jamil Opens Up About Eating Disorder Struggles and Feeling ‘Too Fat’ To Attend An Event” Independent. December 21st, 2019. Web. <https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/jameela-jamil-fat-tweet-eating-disorder-body-dysmorphia-a9256021.html > as seen on May 29th, 2020.
Sharma, Jeena. “Instagram Bans Promotion of Toxic Diet Ads to Teenagers” Paper. September 19th, 2019. Web. <https://www.papermag.com/instagram-diet-ads-2640439097.html?rebelltitem=6#rebelltitem6 > as seen on May 29th, 2020.
